Kingdom Crashers
by Piebandit
Summary: Two dimensional travelers find themselves in Camelot and in the middle of a war between kingdoms. Their only choice? Seek help from Arthur and his knights to set things right.
1. And so it begins

AN: So… this is a fanfic that is actually a part of a series of fics involving the same OC's in several different fandoms. Corinne and Mary are characters that will be appearing in several other stories by me, so be on the look out and in the know. Merlin and all its plots and characters do not belong to me, nor do any pop-culture references that may or may not sneak their way into my writing. Story wise, this takes place after season 3 when the knights are formed, but before season 4 when the tear to the other world happens. I apologize beforehand for language. Enjoy.

_**CRA-ccccck! **_A bright bluish-white light exploded into the countryside, expelling two girls into a tumbling heap at the foot of a nearby hill. The first of the two hit the ground with a dull _thud_ and remained where she fell, while the second began to roll down the incline before coming to rest in a tangle of bushes near the foot of the hill.

"Ow…" Corinne sat up slowly and rubbed her arms which were still sore from the impact of her very uncomfortable landing on rocky soil. Her blue eyes turned to scour the terrain with caution as she called out to her currently unhappily-in-a-bush companion. "Hey Mary, still…um, kicking? I guess." She said with a slight chuckle, as Mary 'kicked' and squirmed her way out of her captive bushes.

"Sonofabitch." Mary mumbled, as she picked bits of leaves and sticks out of her hair. After a few seconds of struggling with her short messy, brown hair, she threw up her hands in frustration and stood fuming and glaring at the very green tundra with her equally green eyes. Corinne giggled and shuffled over to pick up the task of removing the remaining nature from her friend, wind shifting her short blond curls.

"Where do you think we are this time?" Corinne asked as she worked a particularly stubborn twig out from behind Mary's ear. Mary grimaced.

"Well…," She said, eyeing Corinne for a moment and then squinting back at the hillside, "I'm gonna go with…somewhere medieval."

"WAT." Corinne stopped her nitpicking and stared down at herself. She was now wearing a plum colored dress embroidered with green vines and yellow flowers, and a brown petticoat with soft leather slippers. *_Gasp*_ "OhmygodMary, what if-"

"Calm down. We have no way of knowing that for sure, and we need to keep ourselves from assuming." Mary shifted uneasily. She too was wearing medieval garb, a deep red dress embroidered with yellow and white flowers, a brown petticoat that matched Corinne's and tall dark brown boots. While Mary narrowed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, scanning the hillside and eyeing the nearby forest with distrust, Corinne spun in a circle with wide eyes sparkling with hope and excitement.

Mary jumped as Corinne squealed. "WE TOTALLY ARE IN MERLIN- I CAN SEE CAMELOT!" She started to dash towards the edge of the forest, her inner fan girl rewiring all her brain circuits towards finding her beloved main characters, until a foot shot out and tripped her. "AAArrggh!" Corinne yelped as she ate-shit into mossy hillside grass and rocks.

"Not on my watch you don't." Mary growled, as she stood over her friend with her hands on her hips. "We made rules about this Corinne, for a reason. No fan girl mode unless it's well thought through, by BOTH of us, and helpful." Mary sweat dropped as Corinne sat up and gave her a glare made of flames-of-fury. "Worth it." She said as she turned to face the woods, just spotting the turrets visible over the top of the tree line.

Corinne mumbled very angry and inappropriate commentary to herself as she stood and brushed herself off, glaring at Mary's back all the while.

"Do we really have to go through…the woods…?" Mary asked.

"Yes, of course. That's like, THE most common route taken to get in to Camelot." Although Corinne sounded just as tense at the thought. The two shared a look that can be summed up as, 'if we run into any trouble in the form of spiders I'm out', then set off side-by-side into the forest. Destination: Camelot.

The knights clambered to a halt at Arthur's raised hand. The young prince scanned the trees warily.

"Something wrong, then?" Gwaine asked, taking a well timed bite out of an apple he had apparently been carrying on him since they left the castle on patrol. The other knights smirked as Arthur turned in his saddle to give him a scathing glare.

"If all you're going to do is sit and stuff your face with stolen kitchen goods, then next time I call for a patrol I'll make sure all you'll be patrolling are the dungeons." Arthur turned to Leon, "Hand me your spyglass." As Leon handed it over Merlin shuffled his horse closer, squinting into the trees at the spot that had apparently drawn Arthur's attention. _It almost looks like people… _Merlin thought to himself. Arthur stared through the spyglass for a few minutes, pursing his lips in thought before closing it and handing it back to Leon.

"Travelers. Two of them, both women, no escort." Arthur said decisively, although he looked puzzled.

"No escort, eh?" Gwaine said with a mischievous grin. "How's about we give them one then. You couldn't ask for a better guard." Percival chuckled and nudged Elyan, who laughed as well.

Arthur frowned. "Well, we can't just let them wander around in the woods without at least knowing what they're up to… Follow me then." Arthur straightened in the saddle and started forward, Merlin and the others trailing after him.

Corinne and Mary jumped at the sound of horses headed straight for them. Without even a word between them, the two sprang behind the nearest trees. Corinne froze, nails creating deep gouges in the elm bark. _Ohno, ohno, ohno, _Corinne thought frantically, mind racing towards the conclusion of bandits. Mary was silently panicking as well. Shifting her feet slowly so she wouldn't rustle any leaves, Mary lowered herself into the lush shrubbery at the foot of her tree in order to peer cautiously through the branches. _WTF, _Mary was shocked, excited, and horrified at the fact that the seven men now surrounding them in the woods were the very main characters her and Corinne had both hoped/feared to find. Arthur, Leon, and Gwaine were approaching from the front, Percival and Elyan on the left, and Lancelot and Merlin on the right. In a few moments they would close in and Mary had no clue what Corinne's reaction to this was going to be… _Damn._

Mary sighed and worked her way out of the bushes and into the open, arms raised to show she had no weapons. With a rueful glance at Corinne she spoke up, "We're unarmed." and waited. The horses halted, and Mary found herself face-to-face with a chestnut brown warhorse. Corinne slowly edged out from behind her tree and stood arms raised side-by-side with her disgruntled and newly 'nature' covered friend. When she saw who they were captured by her face turned a very bright red, but thankfully she remained silent. Arthur paused and looked them over. His face betrayed nothing of his thoughts about what two strange women were doing wandering aimlessly through the woods. Mary and Corinne exchanged worried glances, this could be a problem.

"Who are you, and what is your business here?" Arthur asked, though it sounded more like a command.

"Um…" Corinne and Mary looked to each other. "what are we supposed to tell them?!" "i don't know- it can't hurt to tell them our names right?" "shit if I know- what business do we have?" "well, we have to tell them something!" The two straightened and Mary cleared her throat. "My name is Mary, and this is my friend Corinne… We're, um, on our way to Camelot to- er, look for work… yeah…" Corinne and Mary squirmed under Arthur's firm stare. _This is not going well, _Mary sweat dropped.


	2. This is why Mary shouldn't say things

After their 'escort' out of the woods, Arthur had decided that the girls should be interrogated in order to discover any hidden motives they might have, if any. After arriving in Camelot he had them immediately taken to the great hall, and their interrogators summoned.

Silence filled the room. No one moved an inch. Agravaine stared piercingly across the table at Mary and Corinne, Gaius standing calmly behind him against the wall. "Well then," Agravaine began, only to have Corinne burst into tears and start weeping uncontrollably. Exasperated, he turned to Gaius.

"Why don't you come with me, my dear? We'll come back in once you've calmed down some." As Gaius slowly ushered an inconsolable Corinne out into the hall, Agravaine turned back to continue his intimidation tactics on his remaining victim. Mary blinked, then her eyes narrowed. She harrumphed and crossed her arms, matching Agravaine stare-for-stare.

"As I was saying," Agravaine cleared his throat in frustration, "What is your business in Camelot?"

"We don't have any yet, that's kind of the point." Mary taunted, mimicking Agravaine's annoyed tone.

"You can hardly expect me to believe two young women such as yourselves, would just one day decide to leave wherever they're from- solely for the purpose of coming to Camelot for work. What are you really here for?"

Mary pursed her lips and thought for a moment. Then, she leaned forward cautiously, "You really want to know why I'm here?"

"Yes, of course!" Agravaine said excitedly, now he was finally getting somewhere.

Mary grinned evilly. "I'm here for your job, pal."

Gaius patted Corinne softly on the back. "There, there." He said, comfortingly. "Agravaine has that effect on most people. It's just a part of his regular distribution."

Corinne laughed softly between hiccupping sobs. She wiped her eyes, "I just get so nervous when people ask me questions! Mary, will be better at answering than I am anyways…" she sniffed.

Gaius nodded slowly, then looked up as the door to the great hall opened admitting a very vexed looking Agravaine. "It seems they really are here looking for work. Although personally I think a common criminal would make a better servant than this one." He said disgustedly, gesturing back over his shoulder at Mary who was exiting behind him. She smirked, and walked over to stand next to Corinne looking rather pleased with herself. Agravaine took off briskly down the hall, as Corinne and Gaius turned to Mary.

"What did you do?!" Corinne said with horror. She could just picture Devil-Mary saying something that would really get them in trouble.

"Eh," Mary shrugged. "I told him a whole bunch of stuff just to annoy him. The only common theme in all of it though, was that we need work. Eventually he gave up and said we could go."

Merlin stole a quick glance at Agravaine, who was walking briskly down the hallway muttering to himself about what sounded alarmingly like torture tactics. As he turned the corner, Merlin arrived just in time to hear Gaius tell the girls that rooms would be provided for them for the length of their stay in Camelot, by order of the King as way of apology for their previous treatment.

"Sweet," Said Mary. "Although I'm assuming it's a shared chamber, right?"

"Yes. Single chambers and adjoined rooms are typically reserved for visiting nobles, or general upper-class honored guests." Gaius explained. "However I'm sure you'll find them quite suitable."

"I'm sure we will, and thank you." Corinne nodded, while Mary just crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

"Merlin, would you mind escorting our new guests to their quarters in the east tower? I have some other business to attend to."

"Of course, I would be honored." Merlin assented with a slight bow towards the girls.

Corinne blushed and mumbled something under her breath, and Mary grinned as Gaius took his leave. "If you'll follow me…" Merlin gestured down the hall and they headed off. "So, you said the two of you were looking for work, right?" He asked. They both looked at each other, and then nodded. "Well, I know there's an opening in the kitchen staff, but I think they're only looking for one person… I can ask around for you, if you like."

"That would be really nice of you." Corinne said nervously. The only thought running through her mind, _I'm talking to him I'm talking to him I'm talking to him_.

"Yeah. It would." Mary said, rolling her eyes at Corinne. "But Corinne should definitely take that kitchen spot, I suck at cooking."

"What do you mean you 'suck' at cooking?" Merlin asked, oh so innocently, looking very confused. Mary let out a bark of a laugh as Corinne punched her in the arm.

"Nothing-!" Corinne said quickly, casting a dark look in Mary's direction. "She just means she isn't very good at it."

"Oh…" Merlin said, then shrugged. "There really isn't all that much work to be done around the castle besides that… unless you want to be a blacksmith." He joked. "We haven't had one for a while." To Merlin's surprise, Mary actually seemed to be considering it.

"What all needs smithing? Just general things like horseshoes and buckles, or actual weaponry?" She asked.

"Uh- well, mostly general, but some weapons I suppose… you're a blacksmith?"

"Might as well be." Mary shrugged. "I've got time."


	3. The plot thickens, questions are asked

_Why me?_ Corinne thought to herself as she slowly filled four buckets of water from the well. The day had started smoothly, thanks to Mary not being a morning person and mostly grunting and shrugging her way through Merlin and Gwen's tour of the smithy. This had given Corinne an adequate amount of time to both find her way to the kitchens, and to actually make a good impression on the head chef.

Things had not continued to go so well however, once she had discovered her first order of business would be to scrub the kitchen floor and then wash all the dishes from the castles morning meals. Corinne had run out of water after a few hours and she estimated that she had a least a few more hours before everything would begin again once lunch was finished. _My arms are sooooooooooo sore…_ She pouted. _I wonder how things are going for Mary…?_

_Fuck-fuck-fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck._ Mary screamed silently to herself as she built fires, poured iron and steel, hit things repeatedly with several different hammers, burned her hands, cut her arms and palms, and finally started the whole process all over again. It had become her new blacksmithing mantra and it seemed entirely accurate. Her morning had started terribly. Mary had been woken up just after dawn by a far too peppy Merlin and introduced to Gwen for the first time. Never before had she experienced such an extreme need for coffee, and no access to it.

While Merlin and Gwen were showing her the smithy and all its tools, Mary was fully aware that Corinne had begun her new job in the castle kitchens. _I hope she's just as miserable as I am. OW! _She thought darkly as she burned herself once more on the tongs she was using to move a piece of red hot iron to the anvil for a future horseshoe. _This had better fucking work._

Corinne groaned, as she lay down on her bed in the east tower. _What a day…_

Mary straggled in slowly and flopped face-first on her own mattress.

"You too, huh?" Corinne asked.

*Grumble*

"What?"

Mary turned her face to the side, "I said FML."

"Oh." Corinne grinned. She could see now that they both had matching smudges on their faces and clothing, although Corinne's were muddy water, while Mary's were dirt, charcoal, and ash. "Want me to see if we can get some water for baths?" She asked. She didn't really want to get up and move again, but the prospect of being clean almost seemed worth it.

"Meh." Mary did a half shrug and winced, "My arms feel like cooked noodles…" she groaned.

Corinne half-laughed, then said, "I'll go get water."

As she got up and entered the torch-lit hallway, Corinne started to feel a little light headed. She paused for a moment at the top of the stairs and leaned against the wall for support. Her legs were shaking, then she gasped as her knees gave out and she started to fall towards the open stairwell. Corinne let out a squeak of surprise when she felt an arm wrap around her waist and jerk her backward into what she was sure was a very firm man-chest. Her inner-fangirl was terrified to look and see who it was, but she also wanted to be able to thank whoever it was… Heart pounding, Corinne turned her face to the side and up. She was face-to-face with Lancelot.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he released her and took a quick glance up and down the hall. "It isn't always a good idea to be up and around at this time of night, especially if you aren't feeling well."

Corinne felt her face getting very red. "I was just going to get some water…"

Lancelot blinked. "Do you have a fever?" He asked sternly, taking in her flush.

"Eep. No." Corinne squeaked. "I'll go back now, I'm so sorry!" She brushed past him and rushed to her and Mary's room, quickly shutting the door and letting out a quick- _groalfgggg _– sound, curled up on her very recently vacated bed.

"I take it getting water didn't go so well…" Mary rolled over and groaned.

The next few days passed in a blur. Every morning the two girls waking up at dawn to do their new respective jobs. Corinne and Merlin had developed a repoir, Corinne would make Arthur's meals and pass them off to Merlin, usually with a little something extra for the friendly manservant; while in return, he would join her on her breaks to chat about life in the castle. Corinne had been careful not to let anything slip about where she and Mary had come from- or any especially personal details either. Unfortunately, Merlin was persistent and determined to get to know these two interesting but mysterious girls. He had already managed to ask her twice about where they were from in the past five minutes they had been sitting outside the kitchens, kicking buckets and playing with dirt.

Corinne grimaced. "Well… it's really more westerly… but not the desert. And, we aren't far enough to be near the ocean… mostly."

"Well that narrows it down a bit." Merlin brightened. "It's mostly mountains that direction, and there aren't _that _many cities, or even villages for that matter. Why can't you just tell me where you're from?"

"Um, well- it's just… we're kind of private people." Corinne stood up quickly. "I have to do food things now." She said, and quickly disappeared back into the kitchens with a quiet _meep_. Merlin sighed. He was getting nowhere information wise with Corinne. Every time he thought he had gotten her to let some sort of hint slip- she would mumble some excuse and then disappear in a flash, leaving him with only his assumptions and no real answers. Maybe he should try talking to Mary, he mused.

To Mary, those next few days felt like a constant headache. Every morning she would wake up and pound metal with almost constant interruptions by Gwen trying to get her to eat and rest, Arthur and his knights asking about armor and/or weapons, or Merlin- not actually interrupting anything – but sitting creepily in a corner and observing, then leaving quickly once realizing he had been noticed. Today was different somehow, Mary assumed. Merlin was standing like he was waiting for acknowledgement of some kind. Mary sweat-dropped. _Fuck this._

Merlin watched her quietly. He wasn't entirely sure she had noticed him yet and he hoped she would take her time. Ever since Merlin had been told the horror stories about Mary's interrogation with Agravaine from Arthur, he had had major misgivings about having this short, mischievous, emotion-less faced girl roaming freely about the castle. He had come to the smithy everyday after trying to secretly weed out information from Corinne, in order to make sure Mary was in fact smithing and not causing some sort of unforeseen havoc around the castle. So far though, Merlin had really only witnessed her working determinedly without another care in the world. Now would be as good a time as any to see whether her incompliance with Agravaine was just because of the oily traitor and not a typical habit.

Merlin cleared his throat.

Mary paused, and turned her head towards him. Blank-faced, she said, "Wat." And stared at him.

Merlin blinked. "Oh. Well, uh, Gwen sent me to tell you to take a break." He said quickly, while taking a seat on the edge of the nearest workbench.

Mary harrumphed, then set her hammer down on the anvil. She put her hands to her lower back and stretched, slowly so that every pop off her spine was equally pronounced.

She sighed, then removed the gloves that Gwen had lent her that morning and set them next to Merlin on the bench.

"Well?" Mary asked, crossing her arms. "What can I do for you, Merlin? You're looking a little nervous."

Merlin gulped. He had to get some answers this time, he thought determined but hesitantly. "I was just visiting Corinne on her break from the kitchens." He started slowly, hoping to work up to his actual questions.

Mary blinked. "Ok… And how did that go?"

"Fine." He said quickly, "She told me you two live somewhere near the western mountain range?" This was a gamble, but the results could be worth it.

"Hm." Mary's eyes narrowed. This was obviously an interrogation tactic, Mary thought. Tell one of the pair the other one fessed up so they'll admit it too. She bought herself some time by walking over to straighten her tools. Normally she would have immediately said something uninformative, confusing, and personally hilarious (to her) and then shooed him away, but this was Merlin. He was totally harmless, she sighed ruefully.

"So… The mountains…?" He prodded. She had been oddly quiet and he was starting to lose his resolve.

"Actually, we don't live near the mountain range. We live in a valley _on_ the mountain range." Mary said matter of factly, then smiled at Merlin's surprised 'oh!'. "Technically our village isn't really supposed to be there, so it's kind of a secret. That's probably why Corinne was so cryptic." Even though Mary knew they were supposed to be cautious about what they said and did, she and Corinne had also discussed how dangerous it could be for them to be too mysterious about their origins, especially with someone like Merlin who had an uncanny ability with finding out the truth of things. She would have to play her cards carefully…

"What do you mean when you say it's, 'not supposed to be there'?" Merlin was excited, this was the most information he had gotten in weeks.

"Well… uh, let's just say, most of the people who live there are kind of strange and aren't really um… sociable." Mary sweat-dropped. And so the cover up begins…

That evening, Corinne and Mary sat down in their chambers for a long overdue secret meeting and discussion. The two sat in silence for a while, each contemplating how to explain their current situation and trying to figure out a simple solution to present to the other. Corinne sat on the end of her bed, staring out their room's tiny window and biting her lip. She had to explain that they needed to tell Merlin _something _or they could have a serious problem with the curious young warlock. Not only that, but in the past few places they had been to they had had character back-stories that they hadn't always been aware of that had come to light at most inopportune times, and Corinne did not think they could afford that this time around. Meanwhile, Mary was pacing back and forth in front of the door to their room, frowning and mumbling under her breath. She had to explain that she had told Merlin things without consulting Corinne first, and that if they didn't figure out why they were brought here in the first place soon, there might be some serious backlash. Not only that, but the two of them seemed to always get drawn into really bad situations without realizing it and they needed to be wary that bad things might be about to go down in Camelot and they would have to be ready.

Both girls turned to look at each other warily. "You go first." Mary sighed as she sat?" down on her own bed across from Corinne.

"Ok, so…," Corinne began, clasping her hands and staring at her fingers like they had all her thoughts. "We might have a problem with Merlin. He's been asking a lot of questions I know we can't answer, and he needs to know _something _otherwise he's gonna get really suspicious and if there's trouble, he's not going to trust us." Corinne looked Mary in the eye fixedly and said, "Also, we need to figure out our origin stories- or we're gonna have a repeat of Dr. Who."

Mary shuddered. "No one wants that. EVER."

Corinne nodded. "So, now you?"

Mary nodded. "So… I did a bad thing…" She began, clearing her throat and glancing sheepishly up at Corinne through her bangs.

"You know I hate it when you start off conversations with shit like that." Corinne groaned, then glared disapprovingly at her. "This is why we can't have nice things."

Mary sighed. "I know, it's just- it happened ok? Let's move on."

Corinne scowled and crossed her arms, but waited and listened.

"I may have already told Merlin some things… Ok, I did tell him things- But only where we were from, because apparently you went all dojo-master on his ass and didn't tell him shit, so he came to me."

Corinne face-palmed. "What did you tell him!?"

"I told him the basics of where we're from: valley town, kind of a secret, we don't play well with others… That's it. Nothing major, we still have room to breathe just in case."

Corinne sighed and shook her head. They sat in silence for a bit, before Mary spoke again. "However, we do need to find out what our character descripts. and stats are relatively soon, and the plotline as soon as possible. Then we can move on and be in the clear." She glanced back at Corinne, "What do you think? Plan A?"

"Yeah, sounds about right… starting tomorrow."

"Alright. Let's get some sleep then."

Lancelot and Merlin pulled away from the guest chamber door slowly, walked a ways down the hall and then stopped to confer.

"Well Merlin, you were right. They seem to have a plan of some kind, and they are somewhat strange- especially how they talk- but they do seem to be rather harmless." Lancelot looked at his friend and shook his head. "I don't think they are a danger, however figuring out their dialect could be particularly helpful in knowing that for sure."

Merlin nodded, but looked skeptical. "You'll continue keeping an eye on them at night then? Just in case?"

"If you like. Just keep in mind that you might be over thinking this one my friend." He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder and gave him a gentle shove. "Now off with you. If you're late tomorrow morning Arthur might throw things again."

Merlin laughed. "Alright, just keep me informed."

As the two men parted, one to continue his eavesdropping vigil on their guests and the other to get some well deserved rest after that afternoon's archery practice with the ever demanding Arthur, neither saw the large raven perched on the balcony watching them very, very closely…


End file.
